This is about as non-scientific of a study you can get. The information is right here though. People buy products based on a few items. Price, availability, street cred, peer pressure, Uncle Bob told them to. When you are in 100% control of what you put in your body, why on earth would you not look at all these from a value perspective. The Ferrari of Meal Replacement Shakes is far and away Isagenix. I admit that I do not have all the shakes from around the globe here. It is my blog I do what i want. It was pretty easy to find this stuff though. The big thing for me is when i think about the products at the big box stores and how they have been cheapened to find a nice place on a shelf. This is kinda why Isagenix is in existence anyway. A great product of many years ago, broken by corporate greed. Thankfully the founder new better and moved on from the big boxes. If you are looking at things strictly with a calculator and ignoring the products themselves, you are wasting your money. Yes, Isagenix may have a bigger price tag than some, but so do Ferrari's. You pay Ferrari money you get Ferrari performance. You pay Yugo money, you get Yugo performance. I am one who will just walk around buying stuff for me. I rarely do. Isagenix is not a treat because I am good. It is a tool for me to live a long strong and healthy life. Go ahead and read and calculate whatever you want. Again, this is not scientific by any stretch of the imagination. It is 30 minutes looking up prices and basics of some products. PS you do not have to pop pills or wear patches. It is not magic and you have to be in the right frame of mind to want it to work. 1. Shakeology: Processed Whey Protein (Isolate), Contains Suma Root which contains Ecdysterone (a banned substance for athletes). Also an Intestinal Irritant. $130 bucks for 30 servings! Yikes!!!!!2. Herbalife: Soy Protein (Isolate) it is a row crop, not organic! Protein is acid washed with heat, (Denatured) to help make it less toxic, and only 9 grams of protein.(Also the cheapest of all the shakes to make). $34 for 7 packs!!!3. Advocare: 1st ingredient is Maltodextrin, (it is a man made sugar that is chemically derived from starch and is used in a number of different foods and sweeteners. Side effects can include anything from, chest pain, heart palpitations, high cholesterol, hypoglycemia, or excess fat if the calories from the sugar is not burned off).Soy Protein and Fructose are the next 2 ingredients! Also has GMO's (Genetically Modified Organisms)$45 for 14 packs4. Body By Vi: Soy Protein, a row crop product and loaded with toxins, GMO"s and sweetened with Sucralose, (The majority of ingested sucralose is not broken down by the body and shown to reduce the amount of GOOD bacteria in the intestines by as much as 50%.Maltodextrin derived from GMO starch, whey protein isolatesOnly 10 Grams of poor Protein, not a meal replacement and in addition is has to be mixed with milk. $64 dollars for 24 servings5. Slim Fast – GMO, maltodextrin, refined sugar, antibiotics, rBGH, carrageenan $7 bucks for 14 servings at Walmart….6. Ensure – GMO, soy protein, maltodextrin, refined sugar, artificial colors, carrageenan $12 for 7 servings at Walmart….7. It Works – GMO, soy protein, maltodextrine, whey protein isolates, antibiotics, rBGH $69 for 30 servings8. Atkins – GMO, refined sugar, antibiotics, rBGH, artificial colors, carrageenan $30 for 10 servings9. Special K – GMO, soy protein, maltodextrin, refined sugar, antibiotics, rBGH, artificial colors, carrageenan $6 for a 4 pack at Walmart10. Isogen – 125 calories GMO, maltodextrin, refined sugar, whey protein isolate, antibiotics, rBGH, artificial colors $30 for 39 servings11. Pure Protein – GMO, refined sugar, whey protein isolate, antibiotics, rBGH, artificialcoloring, carrageenan $18 for 20 services12. Muscle Milk – GMO, maltodextrin, refined sugar, whey protein isolate, heavy metals (arsenic and lead), antibiotics, rBGH, artificial coloring, carrageenan $20 for 12 servings13. Youngevity Slender FX -only 105 calories so not a meal replacement, use soy and whey proteins, no source given for whey, so probably low grade from U.S., low carbs, Sweetened with Steviol (stevia) $50 for 30 servings14. The Shaklee 180 Energizing Smoothies- Their protein blend contains soy protein concentrate and soy protein isolate. Rules them out immediately. It's not a true meal replacement by itself. They suggest mixing it with milk to bring calories up for replacing meals. Cost is $2.72 per serving yielding 16g of protein. $43 to $78 for 15 servings????15. The Physique Shake- Their protein blend contains Milk and Whey protein isolate, both of which are denatured. Rules them out yet again. It's a protein supplement, not meal replacement. Cost is $2.22 per serving yielding 14g of protein. $56 for 30 servings16. Syntrax Nectar Protein: only 100 calories so it can't be a meal replacementcontains soy protein along with whey proteincontains Sucralose is an artificial sweetenercontains Hydrolyzed wheat which is really just another way of saying MSG $44 for 130 servings? How big is this bucket of junk???17. Arbonne shakes are to low in calories (160) and very low in nutrition, most only having 15% of the RDA (a few as high as 20%). Very high in sodium at 480 mg. $66 for 30 servings18. MonaVie - contains soy, very expensive, only 9gr of protein, not enough calories for a "meal replacement" so they suggest you add milk to it, making it even more expensive, Whey Protein Isolate and Whey Protein Hydrolysate NOT Hormone Free Whey, (whey concentrate is BEST) Whey source not given and since it contains hormones at best it is probably a grade 2 or 3 whey protein. Contains Artificial Sweeteners and/or Flavors. $97 for 30 servings. This must be a retail price19. Thrive - super low 110 calories. This is not a meal replacement. Soy and pea protein mix. Not balanced. contains sucralose. $65 for 16 servings on Amazon20. Isagenix - contains undenatured Grade 7 Whey Protein concentrate, Micro and Macro nutrients. Isagenix shakes are a complete 240 calorie meal replacement. They have all 90 Building Blocks your Body needs everyday. 242 Nutrients and ALL ORGANIC! NO GLUTEN, NO SOY, NO GMO's, NO SUCRALOSE, NO MALTODEXTRIN $40 for 14 servings.​